P & F FAMILY FUN NIGHT

PRINCIPAL LONG SERVICE LEAVE

I have applied for and been approved for Long Service Leave this year. I commence leave on the first day of Term Two, Monday, 15th April and return at the beginning of Week Six, on Monday, 20th May. During my absence Chris Joplin will be acting principal and will be working from the principal’s office. Chris will be accessing the principal@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au email address or can also be contacted at cjoplin@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au

Steph Hunt will be acting Deputy Principal and will continue to work from her current office. During this time other staff will step up to fill the roles of Teaching and Learning Leader and Welbeing Leader. These teachers will be released from their classrooms one day a week to support Chris and Steph. Parents and guardians with children in these classes will be advised via email next week. 

NEW STAFF 

Since the beginning of this term Kirsty Gemetzis has been completing a placement at St Peter’s as part of her Certificate III and Certificate IV school based education support course. Kirsty has successfully completed her placement and has now accepted a position at St Peter’s to commence at the beginning of Term Two. I look forward to all that Kirsty will bring to the LSO team.

ILLNESS

We have received a report of a student contracting Shigellosis. Shigellosis is characterised by an acute onset of diarrhoea, fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. Typically, the stools contain blood, mucus and pus, although some people will present with watery diarrhoea. If your child presents with any of these symptoms you are advised to visit your GP.

NAPLAN AT ST PETER'S

Schools can approach Naplan with different mindsets. When Naplan began it was a means of measuring state and Australia wide education systems.  An additional benefit was the ability to determine where individual students sat in comparison to students at the same year level across the state and country. By including Naplan results on the My School website it allowed parents and prospective parents to make comparisons between schools.  

Some school leaders then decided that Naplan results could be manipulated and used to market their schools. Naplan results can be manipulated if students spend hours in the weeks and months prior to the test dates practising Naplan tests. The second and more concerning manipulation is to encourage families of students whose results would not enhance the school averages to exempt their child from completing Naplan. I have experienced students moving to St Peter’s having been exempted from Naplan tests in Year Three as the school advised the parent it would not be good for their child’s wellbeing even though the child really wanted to participate.

At St Peter’s we approach Naplan the same way every year.

• The students practise Naplan on one occasion to ensure that they are not surprised by a testing regime that they have not previously experienced.
• Every child is encouraged to participate. In 2024 every child in Year 3 and Year 5 at St Peter’s is participating.
• We provide a juice box and some jelly beans for each child for each test to make it a bit more fun.
• Naplan results are used to assist students learning and are not used for marketing purposes.

I am proud of our approach to Naplan tests and the results we achieve.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Thursday, 18th April. Details on how to book an interview time will be sent out early next week. 

CONGRATULATIONS YEAR THREE AND YEAR FIVE STUDENTS

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority moved the dates for Naplan testing from Term Two into Term One. In doing so it created a clash with our Year 3 to 5 swimming lessons. Despite our best efforts we were not able to change the swimming lessons dates for 2024. Ben Cavarra is working with GESAC to make the necessary changes for 2025.

This has meant our Year Three and Five students have been completing Naplan tests in the morning and then heading to swimming lessons. They have been very resilient and have been able to complete their tests and engage fully in their swimming lessons which is something they are to be congratulated for.

YEAR SIX CAMP

Our Year Six students left at 6:30am this morning to head to Canberra for their camp. I would like to acknowledge and thank Sean Hanrahan for his organisation of this camp. I also wish to thank  Sean, Laura Doran, Laura Mason, Renee Burchell, Lousie Van Corler, Ross McAsey, Sue O’Mahoney and Amy Williams who will be away from their families for a week to allow our students to have such a wonderful educational experience. I will join this camp from Monday afternoon to Thursday night. Chris Joplin will be acting principal in my absence.

FOOTY COLOURS

With the return of the AFL season we are again allowing students to wear their team’s football colours with their uniform i.e. scarf, beanie, football jumper if their team wins. Hopefully a bit of fun on a Monday morning.

CONGRATULATIONS - TYLER DEETH

Tyler Deeth (6LD) finished  3rd Boy in Intermediate Fleet (5th overall) in the Victorian Opti State Championships at Sandringham Yacht Club over the long weekend. Congratulations Tyler!

EASTER EGG RAFFLE 

After the success of last year’s Easter Raffle, the Parents and Friends and the Year 6 students, will again be running this initiative, where half of the funds raised will be donated to the Royal Childrens’ Hospital Good Friday Appeal and the other half will be used by the Parents And Friends to provide resources for our students.

STAGE ONE DONATIONS

The first stage is a request for every family to donate an Easter egg, bunny or other Easter chocolate. Please note that tomorrow is the absolute latest that donations of eggs can be brought in. Members of our Parents and friends will then use these eggs to create Easter Egg Hampers that will become raffle prizes.

STAGE TWO RAFFLE TICKET SALES

We would be very grateful if you would support this worthy cause that is synonymous with Easter, by selling some raffle tickets.

The eldest child in each family has brought home a book of 10 raffle tickets today. Each raffle ticket is $2.

You may wish to purchase all tickets or get family, friends &/or neighbours involved and ask them for their support by purchasing a ticket or two!

Prizes will be awarded to students who sell the most raffle tickets and additional envelopes can be requested from Trish in the office. 

Please ensure the following information is clearly printed on the ticket stub:

-          Contact name of purchaser 

-          Contact number of purchaser 

All sold ticket stubs and raffle money will need to be returned to the office, in a labelled envelope with the student’s name and class, no later than Friday, 22nd  March.  

STAGE THREE RAFFLE DRAWN

Our Easter Raffle will be drawn on Tuesday, 26th March  and thanks to all of your generous chocolate donations, we will have some awesome hampers up for grabs just in time for the Easter chocolate feast!

Many thanks,

St Peter’s P&F and Year 6 students 

SCHOOL TOUR THANKYOU

This term the students in 6BG are responsible for the community portfolio at St Peter’s. One of the responsibilities has been to assist staff in conducting school tours. Some of these tours are held during school time but a number are held after hours and on weekends. I would like to acknowledge and thank Dylan Johnson, Alexandra Dean, Ellie Moloney, Antonia Abbondanza, Andrew Terkelsen, Efthimia Dimitriu, Jemima Camfield, Joseph Sarkis and Tilly Inkster for giving up out of school time to share their experiences at St Peter’s.

FOUNDATION ENROLMENTS 2025

Enrolments for foundation 2025 are now open. If you are a current family at St Peter’s with younger children starting school in 2025 then you can pick up an enrolment form from our school office or contact Trish tticca@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au and she will send one home for you.

UNIFORM CHANGE

The beginning of term is the beginning of transition to Winter Uniform. This can be weather dependent and common sense needs to apply. If weather is normal then the expectation is that all students are in Winter Uniform the week beginning the 29th of April. School Hats are still required whether in Summer or Winter Uniform until the end of April.

END OF TERM ONE

Term One will end for students at 2:30pm on Thursday, 28th March.

BEGINNING OF TERM TWO

Students return to school for the beginning of Term Two on Monday, 15th April.

LENTEN AND HOLY WEEK CELEBRATIONS HOLY TRINITY PARISH

In the meantime keep Active by Walking, Riding or Scootering to school whenever you can!!

Don't forget to have your cards clipped whenever you walk, ride or scooter to school and return your completed cards to the office to receive a new one.